Part-Time Ramblers

The slam pit won’t be going off, but California 66 in Ventura will nonetheless be packed with rapt admirers of the Rincon Ramblers, who will be throwing a release party for the band’s debut CD on Sunday night.

Six bucks will get you in the door, and double that will get you a copy of “The Green Rolling Hills of La Conchita.� Among the best musicians in the area, doing that acoustic folk, bluegrass, jam, whatever-you-call-it thing, the Ramblers are virtually a musical all-star team. The players include: Jon Wilcox (guitar, vocals), Alan Thornhill (guitar, bass and vocals), Dan Wilson (bass, guitar, vocals), Bill Flores (pedal steel guitar, Dobro, accordion, banjo, guitar) and Phil Salazar (fiddle).

The band can easily do a three-hour set and not repeat any songs, usually playing an equal mix of covers and originals. All of the members have other projects, so the Ramblers have averaged about a gig a month during their two-year existence. All that may change depending on the success of the CD. More on that from bass player Dan Wilson.

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How hard is it to book a gig for the band?

It usually takes me a week of phone calls to confirm a date. Everyone has extended schedules. Alan is a full-time finish carpenter and a father of three. Phil plays with about nine bands, from the Cache Valley Drifters to Acadiana to Raging Arb & the Redheads. Bill plays with Little Jonny & the Giants and a lot of other bands, too. Jon Wilcox’s main band is Marley’s Ghost. I play with Jimmy Adams and also J. Peter Boles, plus I work 25 hours a week at Heck’s Music.

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So what’s the plan with the CD?

We want to send out several hundred copies of the CD, then take it from there. . . . We’d like to get on the festival circuit. A couple of years ago, Alan won the 1995 Telluride Music Festival Finger Picking Competition, and that led to a workshop at the Strawberry Music Festival in Yosemite the next year. The band came along and did a few in-between gigs. We have a full gig this year, May 22 on the main stage.

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What backgrounds to the various players have?

We cover a lot of ground with the different roots everybody has. Phil brings a tradition of bluegrass and Irish music. Jon brings traditional Irish music and a folky tradition. Bill is . . . capable of playing a number of genres and being valid in all of them. Alan brings a ‘60s rock and pop feel to the band, plus a lot of his singing comes from an R & B background. He’s a tremendous instrumental guitarist. I come from the same ‘60s tradition as Alan.

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What does Rincon Ramblers’ music sound like?

We’re the sum of all our parts, and we’re definitely not just a bluegrass band. This band is almost like a mini-festival all in one. We can do swing stuff, soul stuff, and sometimes we almost have a Grateful Dead feel. Anyone in the band could front a band of their own and be the dominant one.

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What’s the deal with acoustic music?

Acoustic music is one of the last main-line things. It used to be mainly bluegrass, but it expanded due to players like Bela Fleck and David Grisman. The local music scene is fantastic. We have a strong acoustic music following; people come to see us and stay until the end.

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Anything else?

Yes. Everyone in the band is a native of this area, and so the Rincon is significant in our lives. Bill is from Ventura, and his family has been here for eight generations. Alan is from Port Hueneme. Phil is from Oxnard and I grew up on [Ventura] Avenue and went to Buena [High School].

* Rincon Ramblers at 66 California, 66 California St., Ventura. Sun., 6-10 p.m. $6, or $12 with a CD. Call 648-2266.

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Ska Flaws: Remember that Silver Strand party band Ska Daddyz? Forget them--they’re the Daddyz now. “We were getting labeled as a ska band,� said guitarist Darren “Zorba� Cruz.

Wait a minute. They were a ska band, with songs such as “Ranking Full Stop,� a tune immortalized by the English Beat.

“We tried to be a ska band, but we were constantly getting flipped off in Los Angeles. They hated us because we didn’t wear a suit, a hat and a skinny tie. Our advisors told us that ska can’t last too much longer, anyway.�

The Daddyz will be at Bombay Bar & Grill in Ventura on Friday and Saturday.